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Friday, March 18, 2011

Family Crest

I recently ran across a gentleman named Mike Coyne, originally from Marcellus, who sent me a version of the origin of the Coyne name. It apparently came from the name Cadhan, which sounds like the name for a Barnacle Goose and so sometimes Cadhan became Barnacle instead of Coyne or Cohen. I have seen this as a variation of Coyne and couldn't imagine how it could be but I guess you should never underestimate the power of mistranslations.

I had assumed the bird on the shield was a rooster, to show our fighting spirit or that we like to get up early.

Perhaps it's supposed to be a Wild Goose. It is just sort of standing there. Usually it has it's feet and spurs up in a fighting pose. The Cohen Crest really looks like a duck and the spear heads are rotated 90 Deg.. Assuming both haven't been created for the tourist trade.